Artist sculpts with playful passion

BY CAROL A. HUNTER

NEW MEXICO MAGAZINE

            The sign on the gate reads “Welcome to Haddawaydom.” Other signs to the right of the driveway states “Caution Duck Crossing” and “Mile of Sculpture.” Indeed, Jurassic Park–size metal figures in Crayola Colors loom to the left.

            Caution: You have just entered the home and workshop of Albuquerque sculptor Ed Haddaway.

            The back yard resembles a construction site. And it is. But rather than buildings, Haddaway crafts steel sculpture. He’s a designer, painter and welder. “You name it and I do it” says Haddaway about his work. Relationships, death, dreams and childhood are fodder for Haddaway’s work. Observations of 3-year-old daughter Emily inspire Haddaway. And humor infuses much of his work.

            “Play and imagination are the essence of art,” he says. A fitting comment from a man who’s created floating rocking chairs and flying tricycles, and feels “like I never really left my childhood.”

            Born in Ft Worth Texas, Haddaway’s been an artist all his life Just ask his mother. She’s saved his work since he was 5. In 1969 Haddaway moved to Albuquerque and received a bachelor’s degree from the University of New Mexico.

            Since then, his work has appeared in galleries and private collections throughout the country.

            Haddaway compares his work to storytelling. After studying Faulkner, trees captured his fancy. He combines this powerful basic image with personal symbols from his dreams to “create poetry and prose” through his sculpture.

            His latest achievement incorporates those elements. Haddaway is the recipient of a State 1% for the Arts Grant.

            Titled Passages, three open white steel doors occupy the courtyard of Dona Ana Branch Community College in Las Cruces. Tree branches sprout from the door frames. Each represents a stage of life reflected in the colors of the leaves. Haddaway says the sculptures are about exploration, change, and possibility.

            It’s an apt theme for education and one that reflects Haddaway’s philosophy. “Art, he says, “is entirely accessible to anyone who allows their imagination to run free and is willing to pursue ideas.” Quite a grown-up conviction for a man who feels he never left his childhood.

1997